Although many travelers and sports enthusiast carry boats on trailers or inside a vehicle, such as an SUV, car, RV, truck and the like, many simply tie the boat to the roof of the vehicle. Problems arise when carrying a boat on the roof of a vehicle. The boat may shift in transit and damage the vehicle exterior or come off completely and damage another vehicle on the road. Certain boats, such as those made of wood and other materials, are heavy and difficult to lift on and off the vehicle roof. Other boats are wider or longer than the vehicle roof top and may tip if not secured to the bumpers of the vehicle. Ropes or straps used to secure the boat to the bumpers obscure the vision of the driver. When a boat is stored inside the vehicle, space for passengers and storage space for equipment and gear are reduced or eliminated.
There are a number of existing ways to carry a boat on a vehicle roof. Simple, heavy duty bars and racks are standard on, or may be added to many sports vehicles to aid in carrying equipment and gear. Tying the boat to existing racks, while simple, is time consuming, and may not be adequate to prevent the boat from slipping—or the ropes may become untied and cause the boat to fly off the roof with tragic results in traffic.
Thule AB (Murmansgatan 126, 212 25 Malmö, Sweden) and Yakima Products, Inc. (15025 SW Koll Pkwy., Beaverton, Oreg. 97006-6056) make roof rack systems for most cars, trucks, vans, SUVs and RVs to transport boats and kayaks. These systems typically comprise horizontal bars that extend the width of the vehicle with padded supports that cradle a boat or kayak on the vehicle roof rack. While providing better attachment, these systems have drawbacks. Loading and unloading a boat from a vehicle using these systems is difficult and typically takes two people. If the boat is attached to a base along a side, hinges are typically used. Engaging and disengaging the hinges is difficult and requires a ladder in larger profile vehicles. Kayaks present additional problems. Kayak users sometimes cinch tie lines too tightly, which can cause hull damage to the kayak.
Thule AB makes cargo boxes that attach to existing roof racks. Thule® cargo boxes are durable, side opening storage containers that are about 87″L×36″W×15″H. However, no storage space is typically included with boat or kayak rack systems for vehicles.
A need exists for an economical and cost-efficient lightweight boat sized to fit the roof-top of a vehicle that is securely fasted to the vehicle, but can be removed easily by one person. Combining such a boat with the ability to securely and safely store equipment and gear under the boat would be useful to travelers.